|
Integrated Sound Cards Roundup |
|
|
|
Written by Ivan Vuijc
|
|
Friday, 26 September 2008 |
|
Page 7 of 7
| Specifications |
Codec
|
N° channels |
N° D/A converters |
N° D/A converters
|
D/A ratio
signal/noise
|
Supported OS
|
ALC 662
|
5.1 |
6 |
4 |
92dB |
Win2000, XP(32b,64b),
Vista(32b,64b), Linux |
ALC 885
|
7.1 + 2
|
10 |
6 |
106dB |
Win2000, XP(32b,64b),
Vista(32b,64b), Linux |
ALC 888
|
7.1 + 2
|
10 |
4 |
95dB |
Win2000, XP(32b,64b),
Vista(32b,64b), Linux |
ALC 889a
|
7.1 + 2 |
10 |
6 |
110dB |
Win2000, XP(32b,64b),
Vista(32b,64b), Linux |
ALC 1200
|
7.1 + 2 |
N/A |
N/A |
N/A |
Win2000, XP(32b,64b),
Vista(32b,64b), Linux |
IDT 92HD206
|
7.1 |
4 |
2 |
95dB |
Win2000, XP(32b,64b),
Vista(32b,64b), Linux |
ADI 2000B
|
7.1 + 2 |
10 |
6 |
105dB |
XP(32b,64b),
Vista(32b,64b), Linux |
Creative X-Fi Music
|
7.1 |
N/A |
N/A |
109dB |
Win2000, XP(32b,64b),
Vista(32b,64b), Linux |
Test Results
|
| Codec |
Frequency
response [dB]
|
Signal/Noise
[dB]
|
THD
[%]
|
THD+N
[dB]
|
IMD+N
[%]
|
Final
mark
|
ALC 662
|
0.24 - 0.32
|
78.2 |
0.012 |
71.8 |
0.038 |
|
mark for ALC 662
|
Good
|
Average |
Good |
Average |
Good |
Good |
ALC 885
|
0.17 - 0.08
|
86.2 |
0.0021 |
79.3 |
0.136 |
|
mark for ALC 885
|
Very good
|
Good |
Excellent
|
Average
|
Average |
Very good
|
ALC 888
|
0.03 - 0.09
|
81.4 |
0.0078 |
74.9 |
0.028 |
|
mark for ALC 888
|
Excellent |
Good |
Very good
|
Average |
Good |
Very good
|
ALC 889a
|
0.03 - 0.06
|
82.9 |
0.0029 |
76.5 |
0.024 |
|
mark for ALC 889a
|
Excellent |
Good |
Excellent |
Average |
Good |
Very good
|
ALC 1200
|
0.03 - 0.10
|
79.2 |
0.0052 |
72.8 |
0.0034 |
|
mark for ALC 1200
|
Excellent |
Average |
Very good
|
Average |
Good |
Good |
IDT 92HD206
|
0.23 - 0.18
|
89.1 |
0.026 |
69.1 |
0.019 |
|
mark for IDT 92HD206
|
Good |
Good |
Good |
Average |
Very good
|
Very good
|
ADI 2000B
|
0.19 - 0.05 |
82.8 |
0.010 |
69.1 |
0.051 |
|
mark for ADI 2000B
|
Very good
|
Good |
Good |
Average |
Good |
Good |
ADI 2000B Supreme FX
|
0.18 - 0.04
|
84.6 |
0.012 |
74.1 |
0.021 |
|
mark for ADI 2000B SupFX
|
Very good
|
Good |
Good |
Average |
Good |
Good |
Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music
|
0.05 - 0.01
|
96.0 |
0.0009 |
88.0 |
0.0055 |
|
| mark for Creative X-Fi |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Good |
Excellent |
Excellent |
Conclusion
Definitely, integrated sound cards advanced a lot and problems that
existed are almost solved. On the other hand, if you are music lover
and also a fault-finder and you have top speakers than integrated sound
card isn’t for you at all. For most users that would be enough because
on average speakers cannot be noticed much difference, not nearly
enough to justify purchase of separate sound card. In case you have
dilemma what motherboard is better if they have similar
characteristics, we can say to you: The one with better Realtek chip.
That’s because support (drivers) for them and sound quality are little
bit better than competitors solutions.
Homepages:
http://us.creative.com/products/welcome.asp?category=209&subcategory=669
http://www.realtek.com.tw
http://www.analog.com/en/audiovideo-products/audio-codecs/products/index.html
http://www.idt.com/?genID=92HD206
 Discuss this article on the forums. (0 posts)
|
MultiMedia 
